WEBVTT - How King Arthur Worked

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff you missed in history class from how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm editor Candice Gibson, joined to day by the ever

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<v Speaker 1>valiant and ever noble and true Sir Josh Clark. Hey, Cannie,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you, thank you for nighting me just now. Very welcome.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like the third time this month. I know, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>really trying to get on josh Is good side. You've

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<v Speaker 1>just been so so darn chivalrous and nice. I just

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<v Speaker 1>had to do something, you know, quid pro quo. The

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<v Speaker 1>cape over the puddle is what you're referring to. And

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<v Speaker 1>you held a door for me about two weeks. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>that's true. I guess I have been kind of chivalrous

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<v Speaker 1>king indeed, and you know we could use a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit more of that in our daily lives. I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>saying we all have to go around whipping out swords

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<v Speaker 1>from stones like my favorite legend of all time, King Arthur.

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<v Speaker 1>But there are certain principles and values from the Artherurian

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<v Speaker 1>legend that I like to apply to my daily life. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>they're actually kind of universal, they are there. What are

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<v Speaker 1>these qualities? Again? We have honor and encourage um. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe not stealing the king's wife. That's a good thing.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a nice one too. You know. What's what's odd

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<v Speaker 1>is that UM a lot of these these um parts

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<v Speaker 1>of chivalry are a lot of the values that fall

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<v Speaker 1>under the umbrella of chivalry. Also UM kind of jive

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<v Speaker 1>with UM like Christian values as well. They do kind

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<v Speaker 1>of which is kind of significant because I remember part

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<v Speaker 1>of the Eutherian legend is that UM, when England needs

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<v Speaker 1>the most, Arthur will rise from the dead to come

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<v Speaker 1>back to save it. Which it's an awful lot like

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<v Speaker 1>another person, who is that? I know who you're hinting at.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus you did know, wow, I I did, And you

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<v Speaker 1>know it's there's a very good reason that it sounds

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<v Speaker 1>a lot like Christian stories. And that's because when the

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<v Speaker 1>legend of Arthur was first put on paper, it was

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<v Speaker 1>back with Jeffrey of Monmouth. He started penning it down

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<v Speaker 1>back in the yeah as well, centuring the eleven hundred,

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<v Speaker 1>and then after Jeffrey of Monmouth, Christian Christian of Troy

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<v Speaker 1>or kretin Deta he picked it up and penned his

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<v Speaker 1>own version. And after Kretindi there was the Vulgate cycle,

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<v Speaker 1>and this was a version of the legend of Arthur

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<v Speaker 1>that married the story with very Christian concepts. And then

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<v Speaker 1>after that version was written, Sir Thomas Mallory adopted that

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<v Speaker 1>and created his very famous, very well reputed and known

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<v Speaker 1>Lemore d'Arthur or The Death of Arthur, and that was

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<v Speaker 1>the version that everyone was working from. So if there's

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<v Speaker 1>certain principles of Christianity that seemed to give at the

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<v Speaker 1>Artherian legend, that's why. Well, yeah, I think it was

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<v Speaker 1>kind of the two were married together because about the

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<v Speaker 1>time that it was being put to paper, Christianity was

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<v Speaker 1>being introduced to Western Europe. You know, Prior to this time,

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<v Speaker 1>peasants had really no reason to toil, and then all

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<v Speaker 1>of a sudden they have Christianity, which says, uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the harder you work on earth, of the the worshier

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<v Speaker 1>lot on earth, the better it is in heaven. All

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<v Speaker 1>of a sudden they toil a little harder in the

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<v Speaker 1>feudal you know, kings were saying keep at it, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks a lot. So it's it makes a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>sense that that this national hero would be married with

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<v Speaker 1>those same kind of Christian values. As well, And just

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<v Speaker 1>to give you a little background on this national hero.

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<v Speaker 1>I know you probably have some ideas of who Arthur was,

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<v Speaker 1>whether you see him as Sean Connery or the very skinny,

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<v Speaker 1>scrawny prepubiscent cartoon from Disney Sword and Stone. My preferred

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<v Speaker 1>version really, um, but Arthur. You know, it's really hard

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<v Speaker 1>to tell the story of Arthur because there's so many

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<v Speaker 1>disparate versions, but pretty much, um, he was a young

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<v Speaker 1>lad growing up in England at a time when it

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<v Speaker 1>had recently been invaded and their former leader had been dethroned,

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<v Speaker 1>and he saw a sword and a stone, he pulled

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<v Speaker 1>it out, and by virtue of that he became king

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<v Speaker 1>because that was ex Caliber. Indeed, indeed, other versions of

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<v Speaker 1>this story have the Lady of the Light handing him

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<v Speaker 1>the sword and telling him that he was to rule

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<v Speaker 1>the country. So from there he took his trustee sword

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<v Speaker 1>ex Caliber, and built the mighty Fortress Camelot as stronghold

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<v Speaker 1>for his for his kingdom. And once inside he started

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<v Speaker 1>devising a very innovative and egalitarian concept called the round table.

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<v Speaker 1>And this really was pretty radical because before there had

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<v Speaker 1>always been positions of authority within the knighthood. And you know,

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<v Speaker 1>someone was always top night and somebody wasn't sort of

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<v Speaker 1>bottom wrong. But with Arthur, everyone was equal. It was

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<v Speaker 1>a round table round. It was a good way to lead,

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<v Speaker 1>it was. And because he was such a good leader,

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<v Speaker 1>everybody kind of wants a piece of him, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the same way that the same way that the US

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<v Speaker 1>wants to claim Posh. And yet she still has British roots.

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<v Speaker 1>Everyone wants to say she's our girl. Everyone said, thought

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<v Speaker 1>about Arthur, the British, the Welsh, well, actually the British

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<v Speaker 1>kind of um. One could make a case the British

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<v Speaker 1>Pilford Arthur um and propped him up as a as

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<v Speaker 1>a a poster boy for their their national values, you

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<v Speaker 1>know things that uh. He he was a famous figure

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<v Speaker 1>that um conquered evil and united you know that this

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<v Speaker 1>land wherever the land actually was during you know his time,

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<v Speaker 1>um and lead people out of this darkness and out

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<v Speaker 1>of danger and fear. Um. And he wasn't necessarily English.

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<v Speaker 1>The Welsh, on the other hand, seemed to be perfectly

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<v Speaker 1>content with Arthur remaining English. There's a guy out there

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<v Speaker 1>who's found some evidence that if Arthur did live, he

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<v Speaker 1>was a Welshman, and the Welsh aren't really doing a

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<v Speaker 1>whole lot to you know, pick up that gauntlet and

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<v Speaker 1>run with it. You know, it's funny that's evidence of

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<v Speaker 1>Arthur's existence. It's pretty touchy because if this is a

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<v Speaker 1>matter of national pride and people do want a piece

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<v Speaker 1>of Arthur, what they need is proof, and they're turning

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<v Speaker 1>to these supposed historical relics and they're saying, here it is,

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<v Speaker 1>here's proof that Arthur existed. And you were asking me

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<v Speaker 1>about one of these earlier, the round table you were

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<v Speaker 1>talking about it supposedly is hanging in a castle. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>there is a round table hanging in a castle in

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<v Speaker 1>England and it was supposedly Arthur. So I mean, wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>that prove that, you know, he was an actual person

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<v Speaker 1>when they take him out of the realm of fiction

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<v Speaker 1>and put him into the room effect, Well, it would,

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<v Speaker 1>except for one tiny hitch. It's not authentic, so it's

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<v Speaker 1>fiction that would make it fiction. And a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>these historical relics and dates come from Thomas Mallory because

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<v Speaker 1>again he was the one who put this into context

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<v Speaker 1>and actually named landmarks in England. And you know pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much that Arthur was here, and that wasn't the case.

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<v Speaker 1>And in fact, the place that he claimed was Arthur's

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<v Speaker 1>birthplace Tentacle Castle, that wasn't built until the eleven hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>and that was centuries after Arthur was supposed to have lived.

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<v Speaker 1>And a lot of people think now that the reason

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<v Speaker 1>he named that place is because it was affiliated with

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<v Speaker 1>his patron, who commissioned his work of literature. There you go,

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<v Speaker 1>And as for the round table in question, well here's

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<v Speaker 1>where your bubble is really going to be burst. Well, um,

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<v Speaker 1>some scholars carbon dated it and it only dated back

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<v Speaker 1>to Yeah. Yeah, so now they're starting to believe that

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<v Speaker 1>it was commissioned by Henry the eighth because people were

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<v Speaker 1>really fascinated by the Artherian legend and medieval culture and

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<v Speaker 1>he wanted a replica. Yeah, it's understandable. I could not

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<v Speaker 1>feel more disillusioned right now. But um, at least I'm

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<v Speaker 1>still at night. Well that is true, that is true. Well, um,

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<v Speaker 1>I would help scrape you up. I have a nice

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<v Speaker 1>story for you. It's called How King Arthur Worked, and

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<v Speaker 1>you can read all about it on how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. For moral this than thousands of other topics

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<v Speaker 1>because at how stuff Works dot com. Let us know

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<v Speaker 1>what you think. Send an email to podcast at how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot com. H